Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Flyers
* Ryan White had a goal and an assist for this third career multi-point game and first as a Flyer.
* Michael Raffl recorded his first career shorthanded goal. It was just the third for the Flyers this season, but the second in the last nine days.
* Luke Schenn recorded an assist for the third consecutive game.
* Brandon Manning appeared in his first game since Jan. 20 vs. Pittsburgh… He logged 15:36 of ice time, including 1:43 of shorthanded time on ice, on 25 shifts.
* The Flyers defense has now recorded 15 goals and 45 points in their last 22 games.
* Steve Mason was credited with his third assist of the season and 10th of his career.
* The Flyers return to action on Tuesday night when they host Dallas (7pm,CSN, 97.5 FM).
GAME RECAP
NEWARK, N.J. — Adam Henrique scored two goals to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at Prudential Center on Sunday.
Jacob Josefson, Eric Gelinas and Stephen Gionta also scored for the Devils (28-28-10), and Steve Bernier had three assists. Keith Kinkaid, who was making his first start since Feb. 21, had 25 saves.
Ryan White and Michael Raffl scored for the Flyers (28-26-13). Steve Mason, who was making his fifth straight start, had 16 saves.
New Jersey, which is 9-3-1 in its past 13 games at Prudential Center, won three of four (3-1-0) in the season series against Philadelphia.
The Devils, who were 2-1-0 on their three-game homestand, will go on the road for three games beginning Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild. They trail the Boston Bruins by 10 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 16 games remaining.
The win came on a night the Devils honored players, coaches and managers from their 1995 Stanley Cup championship team. New Jersey eliminated Philadelphia from the 1995 playoffs in the Eastern Conference Final in six games before sweeping the Detroit Red Wings in the Cup Final.
The pregame ceremony culminated with a speech by three-time Stanley Cup champion and 2000 Conn Smythe Trophy-winning defenseman Scott Stevens, who was captain of the 1995 Stanley Cup team.
“We were a hardworking team willing to make sacrifices for the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup,” said Stevens, who is Devils interim co-coach. “That’s why this team standing here today will last forever.”
After Stevens addressed the fans, the 1995 Devils took a lap around the rink, then shook hands with the current New Jersey players.
Josefson broke a 1-1 tie early in the second period when he scored a shorthanded goal at 3:32. Stephen Gionta skated down the right wing and took the initial shot from the right circle. Josefson picked up the rebound and scored just inside the right post, his first goal in 13 games.
Kinkaid made his best save of the second period less than a minute later with the Flyers still working on the man-advantage when he slid left to right to deny defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo.
The Devils killed three power-play attempts for the Flyers. They have killed 26 of 27 power-play attempts the past nine games.
Gelinas gave the Devils a 3-1 lead on a power-play goal late in the second. After getting a pass from Scott Gomez, Gelinas put a shot over Mason’s blocker at 18:09.
With the assist, his second of the game, Gomez moved into a tie with Scott Niedermayer for fourth on the Devils’ all-time points list with 476. Gomez has 121 goals and 355 assists in seven seasons with New Jersey.
Henrique extended the lead to 4-1 with his second goal of the game 5:31 into the third when he finished a 2-on-0 breakout with Bernier. It was his first two-goal since March 8, 2014.
After Raffl scored the first shorthanded goal of his career 11:44 into the third to pull the Flyers within 4-2, Sean Couturiermade a move past Devils defenseman Damon Severson and had Kinkaid out of position, but he pushed a backhand attempt wide at 13:20.
Gionta then collected a stretch pass from Patrik Elias and broke in 1-on-1 against Mason before scoring his fourth goal at 13:31.
The Flyers, looking to spoil the reunion, pulled into a 1-1 tie at 7:45 of the first period when White won an offensive-zone draw against Gomez to Luke Schenn at the point. Schenn sent a strong wrist shot on goal that White redirected past Kinkaid.
Kinkaid made eight saves in the first, and Flyers forward Matt Read hit the right goalpost off a tip with 26 seconds left.
Henrique opened the scoring at 4:49 with his first goal in seven games. Bernier canceled an icing call before Gomez forced Flyers defenseman Mark Streit to turn over the puck in front of Mason. Henrique then picked up the loose puck on his backhand down the slot.
Mason made five saves in the first.
The Flyers, who have lost three of the past four games (1-1-2), will host the Dallas Stars at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday. Philadelphia trails Boston by seven points with 15 games remaining.
Mason has one road win in 16 games this season. In seven career games against the Devils, he is 0-6-0.
DEL ZOTTO INJURY UPDATE
Prior to the Flyers-Devils game at the Prudential Center on Sunday, Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced that defenseman Michael Del Zotto will miss 7-10 days with an upper-body injury.
Filling in for Del Zotto will be the recently recalled Brandon Manning, who will be paired with Andrew MacDonald.
Del Zotto appeared in 22:31 of ice-time on 28 shifts in the Flyers 3-2 overtime loss at Boston yesterday. He has been among the Flyers best players over the last 21 games, recording seven goals and 16 points in a stretch where the team went 11-4-6.
In his first season with the Flyers, Del Zotto has scored more goals (9) than his previous two seasons combined (6) and has set a new career-high for game-winning goals (4), while his 26 points is his highest point total since the 2011-12 season with the Rangers (41).
He ranks second on the Flyers in time-on-ice per-game (21:22) and has appeared in over 21 minutes of TOI in nine straight games and 21 of his last 22 games, 12 of which he has appeared in over 23 minutes of TOI.
